Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Eleventh Day of Easter

O God,

If it is only by faith
that we can experience
the presence of your risen Son
in our life,
then give us more faith
that we might know him better.

Never let us forget, though,
that the gift of faith enables us
to experience your risen Son
in the reality of his presence.

If it is faith
that lets us experience
what is most real,
then please
increase our faith.

Amen.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Tenth Day of Easter

O God,

Increase our ability to focus

on the moment that is given to us,
on the person that is in front of us,
on the task that is before us,

and especially

on you, our God who is always with us.

Amen.

Monday, April 28, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, April 28, 2014

Ninth Day of Easter

O God,

Since, through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
we walk in newness of life,
help us to be people
who contribute to the living of life
by other people.

Don’t let us be people
who take life away from others
through
prejudice,
vengeance,
jealousy,
discouragement,
or
apathy.

Let us instead be people
who contribute life to others
though
acceptance,
forgiveness,
gratitude,
encouragement,
and
interest.

Amen.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, April 27, 2014

Second Sunday of Easter

O God,

Let us experience
awe of you
in our worship of you
today
that we might
learn better how
to experience
awe of you
in every moment
of our living
in every
day.

Amen

Saturday, April 26, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, April 26, 2014

Seventh Day of Easter

O God,

Keep us mindful that
the resurrection of Jesus
gives meaning
not only
to our death
but also
to our life.

Keep us mindful that
not only will we be raised
from the dead
but that
we have been raised
to walk in
newness of life.

Keep us mindful of
the life that
we have now
as well as of
the life that
we will have then.

Amen.

Friday, April 25, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, April 25, 2014

Sixth Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that
in the resurrected Christ
we have passed from
death to life.

Thank you that
we know that
we have passed from
death to life
because of the presence
of your love in our lives that
shows itself in the ways we
think about,
talk about, and
act toward
other people.

Help us to grow daily
in your love;
cause the evidence
of that love
in the ways
we live and love
to become more and more
abundant and obvious.

Amen.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, April 24, 2014

Fifth Day of Easter

O God,

Show us how to get
the most out of this life.

Teach us the truths shown us

by the life and words of your Son,
by the teachings of your Book, and
by the presence of your Spirit

that we receive by giving,
that we gain by losing,
that we live by dying, and

that the way to resurrection
goes through crucifixion.

Inspire us by the life of
your crucified and resurrected Son
in us
to live
the crucified and resurrected life.

Amen.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Fourth Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that
in Christ
our mortality is being
swallowed up
by your life.

Grant that with each passing day,
with each passing moment,
we will be becoming
more and more alive
in you.

As our bodies move
steadily toward
their death,
let us move steadily toward
your life.

Amen.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Third Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that
the resurrected Christ
lives in us.

Thank you that because
he lives in us
we are being filled
with your love.

Thank you that because
we are being filled
with your love
we are becoming
less and less afraid
of life and of death
and are becoming
more and more aware
of the promise and possibilities
contained in both.

Amen.

Monday, April 21, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, April 21, 2014

Second Day of Easter

O God,

Thank you that we walk
in newness of life
because the risen Christ
dwells in us.

Make us ever aware
of his presence
through which
we know life and love.

Help us to celebrate
the life we have through him
and to practice
the love we have through him.

Amen.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter Sunday

O God,

We praise you for the wonder and glory of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Let the reality of resurrection take deep root in our lives; let it grow in us so that it becomes the all-pervasive influence in us.

Help us to live lives that are progressively becoming freer and freer of the anxiety that accompanies our mortality.

Lead us in that freedom to live boldly, to trust fully, and to love completely.

Cause us to live in the world as carriers of resurrection life and love …

Amen.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, April 19, 2014

Holy Saturday/Last Day of Lent

O God,

As we reflect upon the body of Jesus closed up in his tomb, lead us to ask ourselves how we have tried to put him away, about how we have tried to close him off from our lives.

Have we put him away out of respect, thinking that he is too holy for us to bear and that his ways are too challenging for us to face?

Have we put him away out of fear, afraid of what he might see and of what he might say if he gains access to every corner of our lives?

Have we put him away out of despair, figuring that there is nothing he or anyone else can do about the state of the world or of our lives?

Have we put him away out of disbelief, figuring that he is not who they say he is and that he has no real relevance to our lives?

O God, give us courage today to face the ways that we try to keep Jesus safely closed away; show us that our efforts to keep him in his tomb serve only to keep us in ours.

Even though we, unlike those who put him in his tomb all those years ago, know what is coming tomorrow, prepare us to be surprised and even shocked, to be amazed and even overwhelmed …

Amen

Friday, April 18, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, April 18, 2014

Good Friday/Thirty-Ninth Day of Lent

O God,

It is the day of the crucifixion of your Son Jesus.

Help us to contemplate his suffering.

Help us to know better what it means

to be crucified with him,
to take up our cross and follow him,
to live a life with the cross at its center,

and

to embrace our suffering as a way to share in his suffering and
to take the suffering of others onto ourselves

for your sake and for their sake.

Help us to know nothing today but Jesus Christ crucified.

Amen.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, April 17, 2014

Maundy Thursday/Thirty-Eighth Day of Lent

O God,

Teach us today what we need to know

of community,
of fellowship,
of betrayal,
of denial,
of humility,
of service, and
of love.

Amen.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Wednesday of Holy Week/Thirty-Seventh Day of Lent

O God,

When we think—when we really think—of all that you have done and of how far you have gone to reveal yourself to us, to enter into relationship with us, and to be with us, we are amazed.

How can we do other than respond to your great acts of making yourself known to us and of showing your love for us with our grateful efforts to open our lives up to you and to respond to your love and commitment with our love and commitment?

And yet we so often fail not only to think constantly of you but to think of you at all.

Forgive us for our ingratitude and for our inattention.

Help us to remember that you are here with us; help us to celebrate your love for us; help us to follow the promptings of your grace and the leadership of your Spirit; help us to think more about you so that we can move toward thinking always about you.

Amen.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Tuesday of Holy Week/Thirty-Sixth Day of Lent

O God,

Remind us that to affirm that you exist is only a starting point; remind us that such affirmation is only the first step in a life-long journey of following you.

Thank you that we can move beyond mental assent to your existence and on to a vibrant relationship with you that permeates every aspect of our lives.

Help us to live in light of the facts of your gracious and loving presence with us, in us, and among us.

You abide in us and we abide in you; remind us to maintain an ongoing conversation with you that we might better know you and might better follow your guidance.

Amen.

Monday, April 14, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, April 14, 2014

Monday of Holy Week/Thirty-Fifth Day of Lent

O God,

Help us to live in this Holy Week with an attitude of celebration; lead us to celebrate your great saving act in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Help us to live in this Holy Week with an attitude of awe; lead us to be amazed in the face of what you did in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Help us to live in this Holy Week with an attitude of wonder; lead us to be open to new understandings of how you acted in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Help us to live in this Holy Week with an attitude of commitment; lead us to be committed to following you in the ways that you show us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, April 13, 2014

Palm Sunday

O God,

On this Palm Sunday help us to praise Jesus as he really was and is and not as we would like him to be.

Open our hearts to his humility that we might live humble lives—lives that want to serve and to sacrifice because they are inspired by love and grace.

Open our spirits to his determination that we might live determined lives—lives that want to do your will no matter what the cost.

As we tell the truth about Jesus’ humility and determination today, give us courage to ask if we can tell a similar truth about ourselves.

Amen.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, April 12, 2014

Thirty-Fourth Day of Lent

O God,

Thank you for progress we make in becoming who you made us to be and in becoming who by your grace we are capable of becoming.

Help us not to go backward; help us not to regress into less love, less grace, less trust, less hope, less peace, and less selflessness.

But help us also to keep going forward; help us not to stay at the point at which we have arrived but by your Spirit and love to keep making progress into more love, more grace, more trust, more hope, more peace, and more selflessness.

Thank you for the ongoing excitement of living in your grace; thank you for the perpetual wonder of always having room to grow and farther to go.

Amen.

Friday, April 11, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, April 11, 2014

Thirty-Third Day of Lent

O God,

Remind us that to repent means to return to you and to turn our lives around.

Having remembered what it means to repent, give us grace and strength to do so.

There are areas of our lives in which we need to turn completely around and go in the opposite direction; help us to make a 180° turn in areas in which we need to go the other way.

But there are also areas of our lives in which we need to turn just a degree or two from the direction in which we are going; there are areas where making the smallest adjustment—the smallest change in perspective, in attitude, in commitment, in awareness, in action—can make all the difference.

In all things, cause our repentance to be guided by the ways, the words, and the Spirit of Christ.

Amen.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, April 10, 2014

Thirty-Second Day of Lent

O God,

Let us give our full attention
to what is in front of us
and
to live in full fellowship
with the people we encounter
even as we stay in constant contact
with what is within us
—that place, that center,
where we are always
in communion with you.

Amen.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Thirty-First Day of Lent

O God,

Draw us ever closer to you; make it our deepest desire to be closer to you and then fulfill our deepest desire.

Make us ready for what we will face as we grow closer to you.

Make us ready to live in the constant presence of your grace, love, and Spirit.

Make us ready also to live with a sense of inadequacy, weakness, and humility that must come when we stay in the presence of your holiness.

Make us ready to live with a sense of wonder, ambiguity, uncertainty—and deep faith.

Amen.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Thirtieth Day of Lent

O God,

When we wander, bring us back.
When we stray, bring us back.
When we run, bring us back.
When we sin, bring us back.

Thank you that when you bring us back
you welcome us with your love and grace.

Thank you that you wrap your strong arms around us and
remind us that we are so much better off with you …

Amen.

Monday, April 7, 2014

A Prayer for Monday, April 7, 2014

Twenty-Ninth Day of Lent

O God,

Thank you that by your grace we are allowed to be in your presence.

When Moses spent time in your presence, his face shined so brightly that he had to wear a veil so that other people could stand to be around him. Remind us that in our case if people can’t stand to be around us it’s likely because we are shining our own light rather than because we are reflecting yours.

How brightly do our lives shine as a result of our having been in your presence? If they don’t shine very brightly—or if they don’t shine at all—give us courage to face the reasons why, most of which likely have to do with us.

Your Son Jesus told us to let our light shine before people. Give us your light. Enable us to let it shine.

Amen.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

A Prayer for Sunday, April 6, 2014

Fifth Sunday in Lent

O God,

Thank you for these Sundays during Lent; thank you that we can step aside from our self-examination to focus our attention entirely on you.

Thank you that during these days when we focus on being crucified with you we can also celebrate the fact that we have been raised to new life with and in you.

Help us today truly to celebrate the resurrection of your Son that we might be more fully aware of the wonder of living in the power of the resurrection here and now.

Amen.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

A Prayer for Saturday, April 5, 2014

Twenty-Eighth Day of Lent

O God,

On the one hand, many if not most of us should have progressed in our relationship with you to the point that we can trust our instincts as being informed by that relationship, as being guided by your Spirit, and as being inspired by your Son.

On the other hand, given that we are always growing and that we are always being formed, help us always to be ready to think on the go; help us quickly to process choices and possibilities and to think clearly about how you would have us to be and what you would have us to do.

May we be mature enough to trust our instincts.

May we be wise enough not to trust them completely.

Amen.

Friday, April 4, 2014

A Prayer for Friday, April 4, 2014

Twenty-Seventh Day of Lent

O God,

Help us to grow today and every day toward wholeness and soundness in our being and in our living.

Help us to grow in integrity; let our heart and our actions, our motives and our choices, our spirit and our speaking, be guided by and filled with love, grace, and compassion.

Let us become who we are meant to be and to live out of who we truly are.

Amen.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, April 3, 2014

Twenty-Sixth Day of Lent

O God,

Help us to grow toward having love for you be our only goal.

When we sin—when we forget to let love for you be everything—let us repent and quickly move on toward growing again in our love for you.

Let love for you be the positive goal that inspires us rather than having the avoidance of sin be the negative goal that inhibits us.

Amen.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

A Prayer for Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Twenty-Fifth Day of Lent

O God,

We must face the negative in us—the sinful attitudes and motives that lead us to do what we should not do and not to do what we should do.

But having faced, confessed, and repented of them, help us not to dwell on them.

Instead, move us toward what is positive and beneficial. Develop in us a single-minded devotion to accepting your love for us and to growing in our love for you.

By your Spirit and grace, work in us to eliminate the negative and to accentuate the positive.

Amen.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Twenty-Fourth Day of Lent

O God,

Thank you for that deepest place within us where you touch us and where we touch you.

Make us more and more conscious of that place so that we can become more and more conscious of you.

When we are lonely, hurt, confused, or afraid, remind us to return to that place so we can be assured of your loving presence.

Amen.